How To Make Your First Freelancing Portfolio

Why You Need A Portfolio

Every freelancer needs a portfolio. It is the best way to showcase your talents and most clients will want to see it before they hire you. Since many freelance jobs are virtual, your portfolio will be how you make that first impression. If you are just beginning with your freelance career, you may be wondering how to start. If you haven’t booked a client yet or done any work, how can you make a portfolio? You may spinning, you need a portfolio to book a client, but you need work experience from a client to make a portfolio. Seems like a catch 22. Not to worry, we are here to give you some tips on how to make a great portfolio, no experience required.

If You Build it They Will Come

Your portfolio needs to show your potential clients what you can do for them. The best way to do that without any experience is by pretending. That is right, the old "fake it till you make it" technique. Put together at least 10 client profiles, the kind of clients you would like to attract at this point in your career. Make up a fake company name and imagine what kind of work you would need to provide for them. For example, if you are a graphic designer, pretend one company is a restaurant that needs some branding work done and a logo. Let your imagination run wild and put together some designs that reflect the quality of work this potential client could expect. Now do this for a few more “clients”. Now you can't lie to clients and pretend these are realy clients, this is just for you to create some work samples so your prospects have something to looks at.

Once you have examples of your “work”, onto phase two.

Putting The Portfolio Together

1.Create a Portfolio Website

Making a website is easier than ever these days, and there are many free options. Sites such and Wix and Weebly excel at making your portfolio come to life. There are hundreds of templates, no coding required, just simple drag and drop and the themes look very polished and professional. You can easily create a slick looking portfolio is less than an hour. Don’t forget to use as many features as possible. Fill out that "About You" page with a great bio and photo of yourself. Maybe do some personal branding and create a “company” logo. Add explanations to samples of your work and even take advantage of writing a blog, a great tool for marketing yourself. If you are really smart and ambitious, get that email subscription list going straight from the beginning.

2. Use Social Media To Further Your Reach

Now that you have an online portfolio that looks great. Start making your social media work for you. So as not to mix personal and professional too much, it is a good idea to create professional handles and link them to your portfolio website. Use them to tell your story. You can use them to share blog posts and other samples of your work and also use them to give your client an idea of what you are about. For example, if you are a freelance photographer using a platform like Instagram, you have a great space to give some more information about your photos and the style you use to shoot. Show clients what inspires you or go through the story of how you got your experience. When potential clients come across this they might feel more connected once they get a feel for who you are and how you like to work.

3. Go Pro Bono

A tried tested and true way to build a portfolio is to do some work for free. For example, if you are a blogger looking to get some work published, the best way to do this when you don’t have experience is to guest blog. It won't’ be hard to find someone that needs some free work done. Make sure that you can keep the credit and use the work you did on your portfolio. A few pieces of published work will help you go for zero experiece to officially a freelancer.

See? Not so hard. Follow these three easy steps and you will be way on your way to launching your freelance career!

Looking for some portfolio inspiration? Check out some of these links for killer freelacne portfololio examples.

Recent Posts

With 59% of U.S. companies currently making use of remote workers and freelancers, you may have wondered if making use of freelancers would be good for your business. Here at Sagegroupy we think that freelancers are valuable assets and can be good for any business, here are the reasons why.

If you’ve been thinking of making the transition from the traditional work world into the world of freelancing in 2019, take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of freelancing to see if it is right for you.

By spending a little time reviewing the overall health of your business you can assess whether or not your business is thriving or barely surviving. Here are a few things to think about at the beginning of the year.

The end-of-the-year is a good time to celebrate your success and learn from your failures. Here is a list of things to ask yourself and check-on to make sure your business is thriving as you wrap-up this year and prepare for the new year ahead.

It is a freelancer’s job to be client oriented, but once in a while we should remind ourselves of what we want so that we can remember why we love freelancing. We’ve rounded-up 15 items that you might find on a freelancer’s wishlist.

Should freelancers ever work for free? Here at Sagegroupy, the freelancer's friend, we would answer that questions with a firm no! Freelancers should be valued and paid what they're worth. However, there are times when a freelancer may choose to do work that doesn't come with a financial reward. Find out when it makes sense to work for free.

The holiday season is now upon us and you might be thinking of sending out some season’s greetings to clients and potential clients. They can be a great way to foster relationships with current clients, attract new clients, remind previous clients of your existence and show your gratitude to those who regularly support your business. We’ve made a list of a few Dos and Don’ts to keep in mind when sending holiday greetings:

If you love working with languages and have the qualities of a solopreneur, then freelance translation might be the right career for you. Here is some information and a few helpful tips to get you on your way to becoming a freelance translator.

Instagram stories have become an essential part of marketing on Instagram and they are a fantastic way for your followers and potential clients to get to know you. If you are a freelancer working in the creative industry, you don’t want to miss out on this fun and effective marketing method. Take a look at how to use Instagram stories to boost your business profile.

Whether they plan to take time off or continue to work hard, freelancers have to make decisions about their business and navigate the holiday season on their own. What can freelancers do to prepare for the holiday season? Whether you’re planning to take some time off or use the holidays to make some money, here are some tips to help you get through this crazy time of year.